Winner fo the Piccola Opera New Hampshire Opera Award, Elizabeth was the winner of the Marten Bequest Traveling Scholarship 2017 from the Australia Council for the Arts. A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU), After completing her Bachelor of Music in 2008, she continued to complete a Master of Music Studies in 2010, also at the QCGU.
Prior to moving overseas, Elizabeth became a member of the Opera Q Studio where she was a principal artist in their new work Abandon (Opera Q/DanceNorth) at the Australian Chamber Music Festival 2013 and reprised the role at the World Theatre Festival 2014. Following this, she joined the Developing Artist Program at the Victorian Opera and graduated with a Master of Music (Opera Performance) from The University of Melbourne (MCM) in 2015. As a part of the program she sang Principal roles in many World Premier works and in the company’s Outreach Program. While still in the Young Artist Program she was invited to perform Dido in Dido and Aeneas for the Brisbane Baroque Festival 2015. Her performance was met with praise from The Australian - “... from the moment Lewis glided onto stage as Queen of Carthage she was every inch the regal presence, commanding all she surveyed....[nothing] could distract from a cast that rose to the challenge of having a genuine newborn star such as Lewis among them.”
Two thousand and fifteen continued to be a successful year for Elizabeth as she was awarded the Sydney Opera House Award and was named the of The Opera Foundation for young Australians’ Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship.
In 2017, Elizabeth relocated to the Unites States and immediately took up as position as a member of the Gate City Bank Young Artist Program 2017 with Fargo-Moorhead Opera. While with the company, she sang the roles of Daters 5, 8 and 22 in Speed Dating Tonight!. Elizabeth’s performance of Edith in The Pirates of Penzance was also acclaimed by the Fargo Forum – “Lewis plays the boy-cray sister Edith with so much energy that even when she is not unleashing her impressive Soprano she threatens to steal the show”.
She returned to Fargo in later that year to sing Rosalinda in Strauss Jr’s Die Fledermaus with the Fargo-Moorhead Opera. Her first mainstage role with the company her performance was heralded by John Lamb in the Fargo Forum as playing the role with “ delicious suspicion.... Lewis' soprano is powerful and so is her stage presence. She is as beguiling as she is imposing when she finally confronts her philandering husband.”
The following year, Elizabeth was one of five Finalists in the 2018 Elizabeth Connell Prize for Dramatic Sopranos and placed Second at the John Alexander National Vocal Competition with Mississippi Opera. She also returned to her native Brisbane to sing the title role of Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Simone Young at the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School.
As with most of her arts industry colleagues, COVID-19 came as a significant blow in the form of cancellations. In April 2020, Elizabeth was to Understudy the lead role of Valerie in the new Lyric Opera of Chicago and Second City Comedy Theater production of “Louder! Longer! Wagner!: The Second City Wagner Companion”. A co-production and part of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ring Cycle Festival , this would have been Elizabeth’s first role with the company. Similarly, she was unable to return to her native Australia to sing with the Queensland Pops Orchestra due to travel restrictions.
As restrictions begin to ease, Elizabeth is extremely excited to recommence her performing schedule both virtually and in person. More details about Elizabeth's upcoming performances can be found on the Upcoming Events page.
